Kony 2012

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

Joseph Kony is a Ugandan guerrilla group leader, head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a group engaged in a violent campaign to establish theocratic government based on the Ten Commandments throughout Uganda.

The LRA say that God has sent spirits to communicate this mission directly to Kony.

Directed by Kony, the LRA has earned a reputation for its actions against the people of several countries, including northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.

It has abducted and forced an estimated 66,000 children to fight for them, and has also forced the internal displacement of over 2,000,000 people since its rebellion began in 1986.

As a result, in 2005 Kony was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court at the Hague, but has succeeded in evading capture since.

168 Comments / User Reviews

Sorry but this reaks of a DOS operation and one of their many NGO's. If it's too good to be true " without doubt" hack it back up.
I started as a small kid back on the 50's dropping my .50 pieces in a plate at Church for a special collection to help feed those in Africa:
Lol, reality was I was likely buying ammo for a US elected dictator to help suppress his people:
This was my immediate thought years back when I heard of Kony from the media, more BS

Hey ozone I keep checking sources, including interpol etc and there is no indication whatsoever that Kony is dead, It's rather the opposite. if you can prove it, you'd be the first and it's worth 5 million dollars.

I think it would be a better idea, when americans stop holding the whole world hostage and stop waging wars everywhere for profit and greed. Get homeless children and families of american streets. Become a society where you take care of each other, where there is not `1 % of the people owning most of the wealth.

Almost everyone here is thinking selfishly , "why should America interfere.." "get on with your life and let people who care do it " , ''good luck getting them kids out!" why ? why can't you hope for the best thing and have positive thinking , it's what this thinking that this world needs in order for it to progress , you should have faith in this world no matter what , trying to unite and act together is what could make a huge impact and aid to shape the world.Never stop helping if you can is what i believe and am living by this and it turned to be great people around me are always happy.
at the very least pray for those kids and the arrest of Kony.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being part of such movement. It is something absolutely worth trying, worth acting. All of us, human as we are, have this huge capability of doing and that's just not because we just feel like it, but because it more humane. I would love to be part of this even in my own little way to help save those children. I know I can only do little, but I wish to share about this to everyone I know in my country.

check this out --Jason Russell, the filmmaker behind the mega-viral "Kony 2012" documentary, was hospitalized after being detained by San Diego police Thursday, the San Diego Police Department said.

Russell, 33, the co-founder of the San Diego-based advocacy group Invisible Children, was detained on San Diego's Pacific Beach after police responded to reports from several callers that a man "was running through the street in his underwear,...interfering with traffic, banging his hands on the sidewalk," and behaving irrationally, a San Diego Police Department spokeswoman said.

Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey released a statement Friday saying Russell had been suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition and stress in the aftermath of the extraordinary amount of attention the advocacy group's film on Lord's Resistance Army guerrilla leader Joseph Kony received.

"Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better," Keesey said in a statement released to NBC News Friday. "The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday."

ozone_ethos
- 11/22/2013 at 19:46

he got busted running a scam cause kony has been dead. he is a crook just like kony its sad he would use our heart strings and steal money

Myob
- 07/07/2012 at 17:14

Policing the world is not our job. Feeding the world is not our job. All of Uganda is not worth the life of one American soldier. Uganda maintains relations with our enemies. If they want to be friends with North Korea, Iran, and the other turd worlders, let them seek out their help.

Where was the help for Katrina victims? Where was the justice for Randy Weaver's family? For the Branch Davidians? for our war of Aggression against the Iraqi People? Fact of the matter, most war criminals die of old age. Look at Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Augusto Pinochet, etc. We could have captured and tried them. But people in power take care of their own kind. The war crimes tribunal was headed by Madeleine Albright who is also a war criminal. And her father was a Czech Jewish war criminal. He took Asylum in the US.

It would not surpise me at all if this effort was not US government sponsored propaganda. We are hell bent on making the world safe for the Central Bank, McDonalds, and the rest of the corporate world. Hell bent on raping their resources.

This fag is the same sort of schill that would try to convince you the first Gulf War was to save the poor kurds. To save the Kuwaitis who are a peace loving democracy just like the United States. Bullshit.

He's appealing to the youth of facebook because they are an easy mark for a sob story. His 'documentary' preys on the emotions of viewers. They'll give a million dollars to a women who's been picked on by school children. You can be certain he's enjoying a lavish lifestyle spending the money of suckers.

Speaking of Suckers, how the hell did his wife get pregnant? Maybe he should make a documentary about that?

America is not a Utopia, we need to focus on fixing our own problems and holding our officials accountable for their actions/crimes. Dick Cheney admitted on world television he committed war crimes, go arrest him.

So you think you can make the world a better place, great objective. Id like to live in a better world too... but look under you, same thing is happening in your own yard, only in a different way. What if an other leader from an other world teach you what they think is bad, would you understand it the right way?

You can make peace anywhere everywhere for FREE, 0$/month this is for free, in your own neiberhood. Probably a whole bunch a facebookers, like me are egoÏste and naïve, people who would give anyone charity money, so they can feel better in their own little heart. :S . Money dont only solve problem as i can see. It creates some too.

If i had to tell who is the GOOD guy and who is the BAD guy , looking at Obama s and/or Kony s pictures... dunno.I will esitate long enough, not having to tell any answer. Of corse killing children is bad. :? everyone knows this! Even Kony knows this!

Having a very weak knowledge of History and WAR and everything knowing nothing about history) My own feelings are telling me that USA/CANADA or America/Americans, (us) not USA/US, but us/,WE nostril of the world are
right now the ONE to blame, I dont know why. but i feel like this.

I also feel that in the last 10 years Americans have been punished, and learned some things but not enough yet. Instead of fighting we could make a step back and look at US

I dont feel richer or better, or happier, or luckier then any other children anywhere in the world.

PEACE for me, and everyone else.

p.s.: GOD,... if their is a terrible cataclism untill the end of 2012 could you spare the little country part est of CANADA called QUEBEC...
just kiding)

This film is probably the first in what is to come of social media propaganda. We have all already heard about the questionable financial practices of Invisible Children, their financial ties with groups who have pushed for the death penalty for homosexuality in Uganda, among other things.

Invisible Children's latest video states they are planning to go to the UN with thier "pledges", presumably to ask for large scale military intervention soon. So this is not over yet, and there may be more than one group who stand to benefit from this. It may indeed be covert propaganda.

Social media propaganda is now one of the greatest threats to our democracy. The power of the people, as we have seen can be used to enact enormous social change through social media, but the powers that be are infiltrating it with propaganda (such as the recent viral Kony 2012 video). Our organization, Citizens Against Social Media Propaganda (find us on fb) is very concerned about this and has started a petition (see our website at Stop Social Media Propaganda dot org). This problem is far more serious than we think most people realize.

Fareed Zakaria on CNN just interviewed a journalist who has been with Ugandan forces chasing Kony through Africa. Very enlightening and hopefully many of you can one day see that. He tells about Kony as someone who stands for nothing and has no ideology. Thus the need to kidnap and brainwash children. I think america is a country in fear of conspiracy. So much so that when you read the comments of people here you have to wonder about the doubts people have as to what Kony's fighting for. Why should US get involved etc etc. Its something I really wonder about but maybe it is just the demographic that watches this site also. Kony is a ganster or warlord. So if you want to know what he stands for why not go and ask the crips or the mexican mafia in south central LA? And if you need further justification to go after someone who kidnaps children and forces them to kill other children or be killed and then puts a gun in that childs hands...well maybe just be silent and carry on with your life and let those who care do something about it.

well the fact of the matter is that war lords just like kony are all over africa and alot mor on the asian subcontinents , hundreds of men all over the world doing the same as kony everyday.

that was my first point , secondly please let me know of any country that has benefited from having the USA or the UN send troops into it either as an act of war or on a peace keeping mission ? , during the genocide that took place with hutu and tootsy (probbaly spelt wrong) the un forces did not fire on the culprits and they left over a million to die.

im judging by how well informed you seem on the subject you were aware of the vast oil reserves that have been discoverd in uganda aswelll ? rumord to be as big as suadi aradias reserves.

what ever herd you end up in or whatever blind faith you addopt i wish you the best luck in life.

rljp
- 04/13/2012 at 11:20

to everyone who thinks sending in advisors is meaningless well think about the technology they bring in for tracking etc. Satelites, cell phone tracking etc etc. Seriously the comments are quite shocking. None of you have been to places like Uganda or Ethiopia or Sudan or Somalia. But you all got it cased? What a trip. I do not think it was such a good idea to put his son in as much as he did and it did not do much but try to bring celebrity to his son. But that is what a loving father with a brilliant son would do. Lets see what April 20th will bring. I will say this however. Taking Kony to justice is like taking the corner drug dealer to justice. The next day there will be another until you sort out the reasons why they are there in the first place. And that will take a lot more than advisors. And I am not talking about a war.

The entire premise of this movie rests upon the idea that improved technology and training is all that stands in the way of the Uganda military from finding Kony. Will the military advisors really make that big of a difference in Uganda? Isn't that like sending troops to Iraq only to find there are no weapons of mass destruction?

If the premise is NOT true, then the entire initiative falls apart. Like in many places in Africa, this story is yet another major crisis with no simple solutions.

Furthermore, what puts Invisible Children Inc. in the best position to help? If only 32% of their revenue goes to iniatives, then might there be other organizations that can better help?

Lmao @ god luck... It is probably a mistake but somehow seems appropriate.

PeSO821
- 03/30/2012 at 11:14

I found the whole thing very disturbing. I mean the fact that this documentary is probably fake, and also the fact that now we found out it is fake we feel it is OK about it.
What is going to happen to Ugandan oil is probably the same as what happened to Congo Coltan. One bloody massacre!
And you think that is OK?
Just as long as west is not involved we are saints! We don't care if people kill each other, as long it is not our fault.
This kind of logic led governments to resort to YouTube lies, which is a SHAME and general public to feel good about themselves discovering government is cheating them, and not doing anything, which is also a SHAME.

I think it is important at this juncture to consider the real nature that defines a government or related institutional power-structure as what it is. As is often said, if the peoples of any land were considered an organism, their government would be its brain. When viewed through this lens, a government is simply a specialized institution, akin to an organ. It is designed to be made up of a person or persons from within a community best suited to the position, engaging one another and the obstacles of the world through a developed process of communication and coordination.

This process, to me, is very much similar to the way cells within the brain exchange electrical impulses via a neural network. Also akin to a brain is the way governments attempt to use the best problem-solving tools available to its community, as defined by and available to the government by way of the government's citizens. In this way, citizens act very much like the sensory organs of the community, supplying information and ideas to its government.

Also, given this description, it becomes apparent that the dictating organ can take many forms in our current world, from governmental to corporate to collectivist. What truly defines the organ is its function and the method by which it executes that function.

It may help to understand that the reason we created governments at all was to pool the resources of our communities intelligently and then use those resources to better provide an environment conducive to happy and prosperous living for the members of our communities. Representative governments are necessitated in any large community for only two reasons. The first is the impossibility of every individual to stay informed of the threats to their community, thereby being unable to take part in its defense. The second is the historical scarcity of good tools (I.e. educational resources, new technology, and access to widespread systems of communication) available to all members of a community. Given the newfound availability of these tools, it becomes possible for individuals to understand, if necessary, coordinate, and tackle all sorts of challenges facing us on an individual, group, or collective level without the necessary involvement of their respective governmental institutions.

I do not believe there is anything inherently anarchistic about this worldview, though I invite you to argue your point against that fact. I do not believe it is necessary to tear down the walls of government in order to facilitate the changes I have mentioned. Contrarily, I believe it would greatly hamper any attempt to bring about real change to start by trying to tear down the old. I also do not ignore that the pooling of resources and formal structure of the governmental organ were, to a powerful degree, necessary in creating the infrastructure and technologies I mentioned throughout my comments. A child gets nowhere of consequence without a parent or teacher.

I do not present a case for mass action, and instead advocate earnestly that we turn first to ourselves and the immediate world in which we put ourselves, through our thoughts and choices.

What I present for open criticism is the possibility that we, as a cultural species, have reached a point where we can begin to diversify the foundations on which we build our societies. Despite the fact that we experience this world in insulated isolation through separate minds, I believe this.

If enough of us are able to take this step and choose, on the individual level, to focus on the goal of influencing our own self-awareness; if we act on and in the environment in which we find ourselves at any given moment, listening to the signals the world offers and not maligning our mistakes; if we can share openly our experiences, angsts and fears generated by this process, we just may be better equipped to preserve our cultures and ideas through to posterity.

If this worldview is, as I believe it to be, a more conducive and easier path toward happiness, we just may begin to make real, natural progress -- and merely by the shaping of ideas -- through fearless, simple, honest conversation.

Part 2 of comments (the site isn't allowing me to post my full comment as one, I do apologize for length, but I felt it was necessary to be thorough.

My opinion on this topic is one I believe to be based in both reason and a belief in the ability of conscious, individual choice to overcome blind faith in any ideology or institution. I especially believe in this ability when necessarily restrained, as we currently are if we wish, as a species, to continue living, by the inter-reliance of living organisms on a, at least temporarily, closed system of resources. With this in mind, I would like to explore the nature of power-structures in the human world.

It is an eternal fundamental that power-structures seek to maintain themselves. This is true, I think, for three reasons. The first is the inherent, personal security and, often, luxuries afforded to those in power on the individual level. The second is the illusion that the peoples of a land are separate from the governmental institutions that a portion of those peoples create through their words and actions.The third is the inherent and universal fear of the unknown. It is this illusion of separate-hood and the fear that keeps us from examining it, that allows the citizen of any nation to shirk the weight of personal responsibility for physical and emotional security in exchange for the often illusory expectation that he is protected from the dangers of the world by his government. It is the soothing fact of security and the temptation of luxuries, walled away from his better judgment by the same fear, that keeps the representative from seeing the crime he commits by not seeking an absolute law of justice for all the peoples he is said to represent.

We are currently walking down a road that leads to two possible paths, both of which, I believe, have the potential to be realized. The first of these paths is essentially one of convergence and dominion, and follows the deeply rutted route we, as a species, have carved for ourselves. The powers that be, continuing to converge and demonize one another through the maintenance of regional and cultural pacts, subdividing the world into categories, classes and castes, will converge toward something akin to Orwell's Eurasia, East Asia and Oceania. These large, regional and cultural power-structures are forming today in the world and the ultimate objective of these coalescences and clashes seems, to me, to be the establishment of a single governmental body whose authority cannot be deposed. In other words, this path seems to lead invariably to the absolute security of a ruling class and, thereby, the closing of the door of revolution as a means through which cultural change can be wrought by the people. Whether this goal is something that can ever truly be attained is, according to me and me alone, a lesson we as a species would pay a dear and costly sum to learn.

The second of these paths, the egalitarian and relatively new philosophy of all peoples interacting and impacting one another without intermediaries is one that has been historically unable to gain traction due to the overwhelming power of the status quo. However, fostered by a world community, made tangible by the tool of the internet and empowered through the viral and direct dissemination of information and stories that provide an unprecedented chronicle of the human condition, this may no longer be the case. Given the aforementioned tools and the dizzying array of new technologies coming into existence everyday now, direct coordination of communication and resources can be executed between individuals on a small scale, regardless of their physical closeness to one another and without the large investment of wealth and energy that has traditionally been necessary to enact cultural shifts of any major kind. Also, the actions that emerge from this coordination can be recorded and monitored by nearly anyone willing and, when necessary, invited, to participate.

It is important to note that Invisible Children's Kony 2012 Campaign has captivated the attention of the Western media culture, if only for a brief moment, and expanded a conversation of incredibly diverse scope and topic (US foreign policy, the modern incarnation of the white man's burden, the future of mass movements and collectivism, the potential for corruption within NGOs and charities, the effect of regionalism and interventionalism on national sovereignty, the way in which we raise our children to view the world, etc. ad nauseam). More importantly, this conversation possesses the potential to create a real change in cultural perspective. We cannot, at this point, predict, beyond this potential, the real world impact this video may have on the actions of individuals or nations or even its ability to aid Invisible Children in attaining their goals.

We cannot predict, but we can influence the nature of this impact through the conversation we choose to have.

It is my personal opinion that the aims of Invisible Children are, at best, misguided, at worst, maliciously manipulative, and dangerous either way. The idea that we, the American people, can allow our government to install an arm of our military (numerically insignificant though it may seem) into the central African region and expect our leaders not to abuse this position is naive. This region is, geo-politically speaking, the world's cookie jar; rich in natural resources on which the world island (Africa, Europe, Asia) and, by the nature of our world economy, the whole of the Americas comfortably depend. I say 'comfortably' because most of the nations and tribes of the African continent do not currently possess the strong institutional bodies necessary to protect or use these resources to fulfill the needs of their peoples. This fact makes it much easier for highly organized 1st world governments to extract these resources for an incredibly low cost and without regard to the sustainability of the lands on and under which they reside.

Due to my viewing the world's governments through this paradigm of power structures sustaining themselves on the resources of the weak, I have come to view the U.S., IMF, World Bank and U.N.'s interventionist foreign policies (and their results in the Middle East, other African nations and, somewhat less successfully, South America) as a demonstration of the 1st world's desire for continued destabilization of the African continent in order to keep open this avenue of "resource piracy".

My question is this: Why does the U.S. government maintain a policy time-proven to create cultural demoralization and political turmoil in the countries in which they are used, unless these results benefit the U.S. geo-political position? Moreover, why does Invisible Children find it necessary, in their campaign to bring Joseph Kony to justice, to rely on the might of the U.S. government and the tool of war, rather than on the peoples of Uganda, the RoC, the CAR or, informally and only if accepted, the civilian citizens outside of these nations to solve these human problems using civil and humane means?

The people there are powerless. You could see from the map that Kony operated in a northern region with little infrastructure or economic value thus the government has little presence. These countries are poor. Kony's militia is probably better armed than the Ugandan military. What we all need to do is hear interviews with these advisors to see what the true capabilities of the people are or what the real problems are. I look forward to that happening hopefully one day and I hope all the negative commentaries here check that out.

Serena Pao
- 03/22/2012 at 03:10

Thanks for the interesting video. I learned a lot from it- I hope that Kony will get stopped soon!

This filmmaker must think we are as naïve and easy to manipulate as his son in the film. Instead of "showing" my son who are the "bad guys", I´d rather tell him about the conditions (poverty, institutional corruption, hunger, etc) that make people like Kony exist in many countries, not only in Uganda. There are enough nerds in the world to make one more of my child

If I had something to teach my son, instead of showing him who are "the bad guys and the bud guys", I´d rather tell him about the conditions, good or bad, that make people like Kony exist in Uganda and other places. I wouldn´t like my son become an idiot by believing that all that is in this world is just a question of "good and bad guys". There are enough nerds in this world to make one more out of my child.

If those conditions -poverty, corruption, hunger, etc- don´t change, there will be many more Konys before and after this Kony is caught by the "good guys"

This filmaker and his organization must think we are all as naïve and easy to manipulate as his little child in the movie. This campaign, apart from legitimazing the use of force (american, of course), is a wonderful gift for Obama´s own presidential campaign. Remember that Kony must be caught in 2012 -before November if possible.

Boy, that was vauge! Who are you referring to? Who is the "evangelical" here and who are the "muppets?" I couldn't bear watching this whole thing; The movement against Kony is a non-religious movement, isn't it?

Jack Skye
- 03/22/2012 at 15:55

The leader is an evangelical Christian, and his organization has some connections to evangelical groups who support the "kill the gays" bill in Uganda. Furthermore, there are indications that some of the funding from IC is going to the Ugandan military which itself is guilty of crimes against humanity. I'd strongly recommend that anyone looking to support Kony 2012 look into some of the critiques of IC, particularly those by Ugandan activists. There are lots of other organizations working with child soldiers who don't have such suspicious connections/agendas.

His Forever
- 03/24/2012 at 12:00

Jack: Kony isn't a Christian any more than any other evil man or woman in history that ever used religion to damn their evil souls to Hell. Jesus told the top religious leaders of His time (the Pharisees and Saducees) that they were children of the devil and would burn in Hell. I'm more than convinced such is Kony.

Jack Skye
- 03/24/2012 at 17:02

C_and_N, my comment with regards to the evangelical links of the Kony 2012 campaign was referring to IC, not Kony. As far as Kony's religious affiliations, I would agree that he is picking and choosing from a wide range of traditions as well as his own egotistical delusions and is more concerned with maintaining his own power than promoting any particular religion.

I would also suggest that it is not a far leap from some extremist versions of Pentecostalist teachings about holy spirit possession and spiritual warfare to what Kony is doing. However that is no more representative of more liberal branches of Christianity than the Taliban is representative of liberal Muslims or the KKK is representative of mainstream white people. Christianity is not homogenous, and while it has a bloody history and many teachings I disagree with, I will never say that the Christian sects that have been involved in genocide and imperialism are representative of all Christians at all times. (To what extent any modern branch of Christianity conforms to the earliest accounts of Christ's teachings is open for debate. I personally think that excluding extremists from the umbrella of Christianity is a no true Scotsman fallacy, but that has little relevance to this issue which is more about how religion is being used than defining "true" Christianity)

My main concern is with the Invisible Children campaign, as it is less extremist, but has the potential to do real damage. Watching the film there are some troubling currents of a "white man's burden" mentality. Upon further research I found that the organization has been widely critiqued by Ugandan activists, has links to the Ugandan military and has links to right wing evangelical organizations in North America that have expressed support of the Ugandan government's "kill the gays" bill. Kony is unquestionably evil, but in the sudden rush to bring him to justice I would prefer if we could avoid funding further human rights abuses by the Ugandan military or supporting the imperialist agendas of some North American evangelicals.

His Forever
- 03/24/2012 at 17:32

Jack: That was well-enough said. Thank you for that!

His Forever
- 03/17/2012 at 17:28

Now I'm really depressed. I doubt anything will come of this movement. Especially since the director had his recent trouble with the law himself. I hope I'm wrong.

P.S. I wish they would have changed the motto. "Konny 2012" has no meaning to most people who are either totally ignorant of who he is or who barely care to find out.

Sending US troops into a conflict because of pure humanitarian concerns would be a welcome novelty. We would lose many, I am sure, but we should not sit by while atrocities are committed and only intervene if our financial (or security) interests are threatened.

I think it's admirable what Russell has done so far. However, watching this makes me worry. Yes, I am a young graduate student and I'm all for change for the better and all that, but in all 30 minutes I see no attempt to really tell us who Kony is besides propaganda demonization. All tyrants and murderers kill because of SOMETHING, be it ideological conviction, political ambition, religious passion, or whatever it may be. Here, we get no sense of WHY Kony does what he does, what his motivations and aims are, and what exactly this "war" is about. What we do see is a lot of "LET"S KILL THE BASTARD and use more propaganda to kill him" -- this is only going to accomplish a very superficial, grass-roots-induced killing frenzy, not to mention more war. The US government really has no business deploying troops there with no sustainable cause beyond "so many young Americans are calling for it," when most young Americans are calling for war without personal understanding of the issue. What Russell really should have used the 30 minutes for, is to EDUCATE the public about what is going on there, and an effective way to resolve the travesties abroad will present itself with awareness and education (by the way, I doubt WAR is the answer), not with propaganda. This is the reason why we need a government where policy is not tyrannized by the uninformed majority.

There were few if any references to "kill". They were calling for arrest. So instead you would have liked the confessions of the children who were affraid for their lives who have witnessed attrocity to be interogated to seek if they were telling the truth? You want to hear Kony's side of the story before passing judgement? You want to know what Kony's motivations are before yoy would feel obligated to do anything? You will make a great politician. It was stated in the Doc that Kony's motivation was power. He fights for no one, as was stated in the video on a written document. He is in a position to hold onto power or he dies. That is his motivation.

ThisDarkChestOfWonders
- 03/15/2012 at 11:50

Ok, this doc is lame on many levels, but this guy sux on many more levels. I'm glad you posted it, and i do not see it as a waste of time. I mean come on. 30 min is worth knowing this stuff.

I love how he says "all congressmaen agreed that kony should be stopped". Ummmm, well if they didn't say that, I would think they would be out of a job. I see lots of words. No action, besides the private sector. The government steps in and kony ould be dead in a few hours. But wheres the profit(monetary profit) in that?

to all the kony 2012 haters, its not about kony but the idea that because of the internet and social media, that people without lots money or? power can come together and pressure their government to listen to them about how they think their world should be, rather than the other way round. watch kony 2012 from 27:05 that idea is worth practicing.

People it's very simple, this is typical propaganda. I'm really sorry as usually I have a hearth and sympathy, but someone that tries to convince me that Facebook was active as far as 2003 is just plain stupid and insults me and all other users. That was just a start. Same problems were pointed out by very active man that made some changes in Sudan years ago. He gave them micro cameras (residents of the most effected areas of Sudan) that recorded all the bloosheed from rebel groups. After compiling all that data )video) he created a very sad film that was due to be presented in international film festival in Berlin, we are still in year 2012. And what happened? HE WAS BANNED from the festival as it seems truth hurts! I'm talking about a very respective man that is known to following the drama of life in Sudan for decades. His name is Tomaž Križnar.

So what are we facing today. Hipocracy! As Sudan doesnt hold any large natiral resources that US goverment could steal from Sudan, Uganda seems to be more in a favout of US foreign political agenda. So there you go.

Are we really suffering from amnesia and forgeting what Sarajevo was facing a decade ago for four years? Are we really that focused on media which tells us what is right and wrong ... did we really forget how to THINK!?

Time to rise UP! THNIK and make your own opinion! Thank you for reading.

Small deposits of copper, cobalt, iron-ore, limestone, and salt as well as less viable fields of tungsten, beryl, Columbo-tantalite, gold, bismuth, tin, limestone and phosphates.

Uganda has no oil just like Zimbabwe. There is no real monetary or strategic importance to Uganda. Robert Mugabe is also left well alone.

I am surprised at the apathetic opinions and the amount of skepticism as to the motives of the film maker. There's being a sheep and just disbelieving every thing you read. Probably because you secretly wish you had thought of it yourself. This film is about unity and the coming together of people, to help others much less fortunate than ourselves.
I would ask how much your life is worth and if u would spend $25.00 to keep it.

There seems to be an overwhelming lack of empathy towards the victims of KONY in the comments. Maybe you should watch fishead and A Time To Kill. and ask your self why we as human beings should allow people like KONY to continue.

this topic is kinda old... i mean, i was still a kid when i heard about this things happening there. and that 25$ kony kits, those guys made alot of money out of emotions, that's marketing. sometimes i wonder what do people think when they get that box and they hold it in their hands for their first time :D anyway poor African kids :( they're constantly exploited from ppl like kony, the media, politics, foreign affairs...apparently "wanting to help" sells more than "actually helping"

This marketing campaign dressed as documentary is trying to sell us another unnecessary war. Maybe the military industrial complex in its exponential growth is not satisfied with Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria. Maybe is that the Chinese presence in Africa is starting to bother people in Washington. Whatever the reason is definitely not about Kony, that just an excuse. Why? Because in Colombia, where the US has over 5 military bases, the FARC (leftist guerrilla) and the Autodefensas Unidas (right wing government sponsored paramilitary group) kidnap and enlist kids as young as 12 in the same fashion as Kony does. Let us not forget that Colombia is US #1 ally in the region.

This is a call long over due. If you had an experiace on what was in Northern Uganda and Now in Central Africa, Congo,South Sudan and you have the power you would swing in action. I have seen Invisible Childerns in Northern Uganda. Bravoo

Millions of children starving to death in masses for decades in Africa: "Not my problem."

A few thousand women raped: "OMG LETS SPAM EVERY YOUTUBE VIDEO!!!"

You sheep do what ever is "cool" and trending, not what is right. These Kony 2012 sheep just feel the desire to belong somewhere, that's all.

Besides, what you "common people" don't seem to realize is that this is all propaganda so you all don't freak out when your government invades them for oil and rare minerals. "Kony 2012" is really "Weapons of mass destruction" all over again.

1) This documentary doesn't really say to much about the facts. It was more about show. I have fave seen a lot of my facebook friends post support of this probably because of this video. Why?

2) Even if its real, and 'we' go in and get this guy, won't that just leave a space for another guy to step in?

If anything the people of Uganda should just take a stand. If something like Facebook is a motivational tool for THEM to take a stand, GREAT, but this isnt a US problem, going in just creates another problem somewhere else.

If the United States does not go to Uganda and save the invisible children we will miss out on all the gold, and the oil, and the rare earth metals, and all that cool stuff. So everybody donate. The world needs all of Africa's precious resources. God Bless.
I know a lot of you have not heard of Joseph Kony Until a few days ago, but just know, he has been killing babies every day for the past 20 years.

The real issue here should be that nothing has been done to stop someone like kony for the last 20 years.
If people just cared more what goes on i the world it would never take 20 years and no one would ever feel the need of making a documentary about a case like that.

I see the reason for all the propaganda comments, the film definitely comes across that way. I do think however think that sometimes the end justifies the means. If it works and he's caught is that such a bad thing? Also not sure why so many think it's pointless to take him out of the picture just because someone else will take his place. Someone has to be the first and he's top of the list. There is always a new baddie to catch. It's just a silly way to think, you might as well say that catching any violent criminal is pointless, or even any criminal at all. I guess it's easier to b1tch about the film than think about the kids that Kony and his ilk kidnap, rape, torture and kill.

I understand your point of view but I have to say that in a civil war there are two sides. Kony is a monster and should be brought to justice. As well the current leader has been in power for over 25 years. How do you think he managed this? As well his army has been accused of having soldiers that are as young as 13. I know Kony is a monster but the documentary makes it look like he is the only monster in Uganda and everything will be ok once he is out of the picture and that is the wrong message to send. Look up Santo Okot lapolo to see what he is guilty off? Just to get a look at the entire story. If we do ask for a change it should be a whole sale change and not just a change that will favor the west.

dewflirt
- 03/10/2012 at 15:27

True, but this film is about one man and this movement to stop him or bring him to justice is the result of the makers friendship with a child affected by him. You could spend endless time looking for people to blame and in the end achieve nothing, just create a new list of people to blame. This guy decided this was his place to start, it mattered to him. I don't particularly like the film or the way it was presented but I can understand why he did it. Sometimes cynicism gets in the way. :)

Mad
- 03/11/2012 at 21:33

Look at your own criminal fascist government right at home in the USA. Far more kids raped, tortured, kidnapped and killed in the so called "land of the free" with metal detectors in school, and child molesters groping people at airports.

dewflirt
- 03/11/2012 at 21:45

You know what they say about assume, makes an ass of u and me. Is it some kind of competition, killing fewer children is like winning ? This film is about Kony, if it was about the USA it might have had a title like blah blah blah USA. It doesn't though, nor is it called UK which is where I am from ;)

misterwong
- 03/10/2012 at 11:33

I've read all the comment posts and I confess to being quite confused about the TRUTH of the matter.It's been suggested that insertion of U.S. consulting staff is American expansionist agenda.Unlikely.Washington vacillated on the request for humanitarian action and would rather the whole thing go away. Possibly to protect interests with a current corrupt regieme. Sensitive policies best kept quiet and unprobed by the meddling public.I don't know.Reluctance to deploy US military support for a mere humanitarian cause is typically reticent of our government's policy....Propaganda relies on creating an EMOTIONAL conviction in the otherwise ill-mis-disinformed.Truth is not a factor in its' desemination.But that is what the PEOPLE respond to,ultimately.What I find MOST SIGNIFICANT,though,is that the government was compelled to act by the will of the PEOPLE.The implications of that are overwhelming to me

i have never seen such obvious propaganda in my life.. disgusting use of children to try and sell a war. you could do this with anyone. The real corruption is the man kony has been trying to de-throne since 86. kony has not attacked or even been seen since 06. they just want to stir things up for a reason to be involved over there. it is still ruled by the queen of england, you know. they want to claim he is in south sudan so they can have a little african "witch hunt" for this guy.

When you say witch hunt it implies that innocent people are being hunted and punished. He is far from innocent.

flexi28
- 03/11/2012 at 10:29

its out dated information and misleading. i have posted 4 pages of links that i would like people to read that tell the real story of the invisible children

Rich LaFlower
- 03/10/2012 at 07:36

Kony is an A-hole. Now on to the real issue at hand…

This movement is total propaganda BS and nothing good will come of it. It’s another case of “listen America, there is another bad man in Africa and we need to get him”. This time though, it is so much cleverer because this man poses no threat to our country or anyone in it and people are begging for justice. People are begging our government to send troops to risk their lives. For all we know, Kony could have died 2 weeks ago by the hand of a 10yr old with a machine gun.

I have seen many videos on Youtube go viral but none as fast as this one. This was a red flag. When you look at society, the popular opinion isn’t usually the best one. I watched the video which got like 8 million hits in only 2 days. I felt sick to my stomach afterwards not because of Kony but because of the massive energy behind this movement to find WHAT SEEMS TO BE an obscure serial child murderer in another country. We have 5,234,342 problems here and our most precious asset, the younger generation and their awesome energy, is being diverted to the OUTSIDE.

Hey you! There’s nothing out there! Everything is here!

This country knows the power of the younger generation and so they take advantage of your short attention spans and open hearts. They make you fight wars for lies because you make awesome soldiers. They divert you with media because you will make awesome consumers. Anything that the younger generation does has tremendous energy, honesty and heart. They need to make sure that if you are not in a classroom or fighting a war, that you are distracted somehow. You are a threat.

BE HERE AND NOW!!! Not over there focused on what has already happened or what we are told happened. We will never be up to date on events in Africa but we can live here/now and fix what’s wrong in our own backyard.

News Flash -If you are not there, you are powerless…there. You do not have power in AFRICA! True power lies within the self, dont let them take your power by focussing on distant non-issues.

They have been using this distraction for way too long. I’m tired of seeing the people that I care about mindlessly supporting nonsense.

Your energy is way too precious to focus on distant lands and things that already happened.

You are Here! There is so much being taken from us and so much more to come this year.

You want to make a change…do something here for us, for your future children.

There are words of wisdom in Harry Nutzacks comment. Over the years it has become obvious to me that military intervention leads to even more misery and injustice. A differnet solution should be found.

and how about if i look at it like this. the current "ugandan army" is actually the former mercenary/rebel army of the sitting despot.(he changed election laws to maintain power, outlawed political parties except for "central commitees", allows no politial rallies) he has been in power for the entirety of the 26 years of mr kony's "revolution". before his participation in the post-amin ugandan civil war, he pimped his troops out to the mozambique civil war. the un and independant observers characterized the last ugandan election as rife with fraud, but an improvement due to lack of violence. as others have pointed out, kony has had NO presence in uganda in over 5 years. he has however, been active in congo, and somalia. given these facts, please explain what possible benefit "for the children" (the plaintitive cry of the post 70s con man) will be realized by american "advisors" increasing the martial skills of his band? look at the local history, and "the big picture" before you let an 11 second snippet of still pictures of a dozen kids with mutilated faces, and a narration by an executive of a "charity" sway your mind. this will be nothing more than the training and arming of yet another band of CIA mercs, who, as evidenced by history, will be used to destabilize and topple regimes in the area, and to interdict for "american interests" in sudan and somalia. this man, and his forces have hands just as blood smeared as those of kony. to give them increased skill, and access to modern technology of warcraft will be a folly of the highest order. no, it doesnt make you a "mor*n", it makes you a concerned humanitarian whose heartstrings are being tugged by the same methods that are used to sell junk on TV (and were used to convince the germans of the "morality" of agressive war for conquest, and systematic genocide). that's what this propaganda piece was designed to do, make your emotions cloud your mind. investigate the situation, look at the "key players" in this little drama, and the regional history, as well as the history of the use of american "military advisors".... a couple of hours of earnest research, and honest assessment of motivations could well save you from lending support to something that will, undoubtably, cause you much future regret for doing so. as i said in my original post on this subject "beware those who wail "for the children", as they are usually exploiting them just as badly (though in a different manner) as mr kony does". those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it

Guest
- 03/10/2012 at 00:52

When i see a big issue as this one, i try to minimize it so i can see it in a smaller picture.
So let's say: in a town of 20,000, there is a lawyer who has been the prosecutor to a very important industrial case about a major company in that town who is accused of having dumped waste in the river. The defense lawyer has won many cases in the past against these prosecutors and it appears as if this is going this way again. The inhabitants are very involved in the case and the news of a new arguments that could turn things around is being talked about. The situation seem like it could be reversing and the case could be won against the culprit. BUT
One night the prosecutor lawyer is seen by a passerby beating his screaming kid and this same kid does not go to school for a few days.

The industrial case goes back to court, the new argument is presented and the defense lawyer is against the wall. It appears as if the case will be won by the city against the industry.
What should this passerby do? Ignore the kid and not get emotional about his situation because it could lose them the case?

Now i know i am talking about something completely different and in a much smaller scale. I do not understand the full politic that are f--k*ng Africa even though i spent 1 year there. I realize even religious freaks could be involved in this mess. But yes my heart still goes to those kids because i have looked into the eyes of many, i have walked hand in hand with many. Perhaps none that were taken and thrown into war...but who knows if we do nothing this lunatic could reach all the way to Gaoua where a lot of my African friends live.

I have not signed up, i have not ordered my bracelet, i am still ambivalent about the whole situation. But despite all this i do care about these children because i know their reality is REAL.
az

harry nutzack
- 03/10/2012 at 03:22

if it was a matter of only "let's build schools, housing that meets realworld standards, and work to build the minds of the people of uganda to insure this cant happen again" ALL of my responses would have been in support of this "cause". it would appear, though, that those more than laudable goals are but "afterthought" at best. this isnt about "let's improve the ugandan lot in life", it IS however, political machination for inroads into a "sphere of influence", and the mechanisms of such machination have historically caused far more grief than the original problem. your empathy and humanitarianism are more than evident, and are, in my opinion at least, most praise-worthy. but, your lack of cynicism, and disdain for the political component involved, also sets you up for manipulation by those in power, or who lust after such a position. one cant implement "positive change" if one has little or no insight into the roots and causes of the plight to begin with. attempting to do so, without such fore-knowledge, more often than not only adds to the problem. kony is unquestionably a fiend. but, does increasing the power, and ability to exert that power of a very slightly less fiendish opponent solve the problem of "fiend influence in africa"? this is much more about assured security for corporate exploitation of ugandas wealth of strategic minerals. is there much difference between a childhood stolen for exploitation as a weapon, and one stolen for exploitation as a tool? the politics are equal in footing with the humanitarian aspects. ignoring either sets one up to be, as lenin refered to them, "a useful idiot" (no jibe intended, of course). that class of society is the target of the effective propagandist.

Guest
- 03/10/2012 at 03:27

It showed a second ago that i had an answer from you but it is not there...strange.
az

harry nutzack
- 03/10/2012 at 04:05

admin review....lol never saw that window before, but when i posted, i was informed id be "reviewed"... im guessing some folks are being rather emotive on the subject in socially less than acceptable ways... that or my pariah status has found its way to TDF, roflmao :D

Guest
- 03/10/2012 at 04:28

I see your point, i have actually seen this point when confronted to humanitarian groups in Africa. I myself have never participated in such association, i performed some humanitarian actions but they were always independent and directed hand in hand.
I will continue to read the thread on this doc. I will more than likely not participate with this Kony2012 event (i can never say never because one never knows).
I have realized a long time ago that the best we can do to help our brothers and sisters is by giving "hand in hand-eyes in eyes" all throughout the world. I have written a lot of poetry about that and more.
And now i am doing other things, i follow the wind, i live day to day and i involve myself in many things, rarely politics which in my opinion is a cesspool and we always only end up with the skim on the top even when we think we are diving deep.
az

harry nutzack
- 03/10/2012 at 06:15

politics as a participatory sport is, indeed, a 250m butterfly through an olympic sized cesspool. but, it is also the mechanism that "guides" our various societies. its the mechanism of wielding power. maintaining, or gaining power is pretty much the root of strife. from the pre-school toddler brawl over "tickle me elmo" to multi-national conflict, it bears true. one is hard pressed to have any lasting effect on strife without an equal effect on power. political structures and "traditions", as well as their history are very important things to know, even if just to get a grasp of the "realities" of your own nations course. once one sifts the posturing and melodrama out, and finds real meat to sink teeth into, it becomes most enlightening. of course, it can also be very illusion shattering, as the white hats disappear very rapidly, grey ones become exceedingly rare, and villianous black ones become the norm. it also shows why it so deeply behooves one to exercise extreme caution in what one petitions those in power for. often, it is delivered happily, exactly as requested, much to the detriment of those requesting it to begin with. your "policy" of charity is great on the interpersonal level, and its pretty much how i handle such things. but, it also can have little "grand scale" effect. building and stocking a clinic can be accomplished by a few motivated individuals, but a national or regional health effort of any kind requires much more people involved. of course, the above example just as easily applies to education, housing, industry, economic stability, freedom, etc. grand scale improvements of any situation require grand scale participation. as far as participation in Kony 2012, if you do, at least a couple of bucks will make their way to feeding, housing, schooling or innoculating those kids. if you dont mind financing the various "skims" involved along the way to the 3 or 4% making it to the desired end, then go for it. my argument is with the military involvement, the lobbying of politicians to push a "military solution", and most ghastly spectre of all, empowering yet another in a long line of despots to more efficiently rain death down upon those that might oppose them (or that our government might feel a "national interest" in eliminating).

Achems_Razor
- 03/10/2012 at 05:41

No, you just put a very bad word on your post, you wrote (id1ot) tsk, tsk, but I let it go through as is. lol

harry nutzack
- 03/10/2012 at 06:26

realized that was probably it as soon as i posted my "pariah status" post... didnt figure out how to edit the same without it also getting flagged for uttering "the unspeakable"...lol i do appreciate your taking context into account. ill do my best to avoid such transgressions in the future...the phrase just works as an excellent illustrator in discussion of propaganda.

Justcoll
- 03/09/2012 at 15:55

Hmm, I am of the opinion that if we are campaigning to bring down one, then we must campaign to bring down all - living in Africa we know that Robert Mugabe has also committed crimes against humanity (probably for many years longer than Kony) but no one is coming to the aid of the people of Zimbabwe it seems. Pleas for assistance have been ignored By the "powers that be" who could make a difference. It seems rather hypocritical to go all out against one corrupt person, while ignoring all the others in the process.

I think this is an excellent documentary, thank you. If we are intent on stopping one, however, we should be intent on stopping them all - what about the likes of Robert Mugabe, who has also committed crimes against humanity too awful to think about, and who should have been ousted many years ago? Despite many pleas to the "powers that be" requests for assistance to ensure the fall of Robert Mugabe have fallen on deaf ears. Stories will demonstrate that his crimes have been just as heinous - so I feel if we are to "get rid of one then we should get rid of them all"!

I think this is an excellent documentary, thank you. I do however think it is naive to not want to then stop people like Robert Mugabe too - as his reign of terror has resulted in the same loss of life as Kony - he has committed crimes and continues also to commit crimes similar to those of Kony, although he may not have child armies at the ready. We have watched this on the African continent for many, many years, so perhaps we can make a difference in this respect too - start with Kony and continue to Mugabe and other leaders such as this - if this is effective.

Kony aside, the ability of the hive to accomplish a goal is astounding. The psychcology of it all moved me deeply. I almost shared and liked and posted and purchased. Very effective. Just a few moments until coke and Mcd's have product placement all over it. Watch the future unfold.

Kony hasn't been active in Uganda sinvce 2006!
He has no more influence in Uganda than I do, and his army is in the hundreds...not tens of thousands as this...woowoo video would have you believe.

He was beaten back out of the country by the equally abhorrent Ugandan government, Who this so called charity publicly support and probably have donated to in return for the rights to make this piece of emotional blackmail!

If you donate money to this 'charity' the vast majority of it will go to funding the film studio that made the video, not the children it claims to represent!

And thus we should ignore all the victims of his 20 some years of terror!

a_no_n
- 03/09/2012 at 15:02

Certainly not...but let's not go about making sh1t up to justify another American invasion into the third world eh?

tomdham
- 03/09/2012 at 19:08

Just a bit of a reminder this film is not about going after Kony or saving any children in Uganda. This is about making money, turning the left wing "PACIFISTS" into calling for invasion of Uganda and funding the Ugandan army. Not to mention OIL!
Also it is blatantly an Obama campaign ad. Look at the color scheme and layout of the KONY 2012 posters. Remind you of the Hopey/Changy posters?
And in IC's own statement:
"According to Invisible Children’s own LRA Crisis Tracker,
not a single case of LRA activity has been reported in Uganda since 2006."

Repeat: get the original Obama supporting hipster, anti-war left calling for a war and getting Obama re-elected.
"Get that Kony devil, just like you got Bin Laden, Mr. Obama!!!"
Oh yeah, and pay my mortgage and college loans while you are at it. LOL,
Tom

Mohammed Beyati
- 03/09/2012 at 05:08

Like everyone, despite the skeptical person I am, was quick to jump on board the KONY 2012 video without thinking because it used emotion to capture my empathy, however it turns out oil has been discovered in Uganda recently towards the end of last year, and within months the U.S decides to intervene and "come to the rescue", and the kony campaign goes viral literally overnight, coincidence? If anything history has taught us a lesson, The U.S war on Iraq also claimed to bring "freedom" to the Iraqi people, but more people died (almost 1 million) after the U.S invasion than under 30 years of saddam's brutality. I don't doubt that Kony is a horrendous man that needs to be stopped, but a U.S military intervention will defeat its own purpose by bringing more misery to the already suffering people. Point is, always remain vigilant when asked to support a campaign by questioning the underlying agenda and interests it serves to support.

@Mohammed Beyati
Yes, I agree. The heartbreaking mass shattering of lives, families, communities and culture becomes mere collateral damage in the now infamous US brand of 'liberation'.
The US is great on covert activity, they could move a reasonable number of 'specialists' right in there and 'take him and his cronies out', but they seem to just 'get in there' and compose 'intelligence' reports to be acted upon 'later'.
Even though the facts are correct in this video, and horrifying, someone wants to gain something out of this, either money or a NATO permit, or both.xx

Matt Kukowski
- 03/09/2012 at 04:06

This concept can be applied to any injustice. 2012 not a bad year. Facebook privacy is moot compared to connecting minds. Very inspiring video.

There are some clips on youtube with people discussing this doc, quite interesting, something about the ah snigglefritz I dun remember, look up like, truth about kony 2012 I wanna hear some debates n stuff.

The purpose of having the child in this propaganda, is so that you feel like you are being talked down to, as if you (the audience) were all a bunch of children. Question everything, especially videos made like this. This raised my b/s red flag a few times, it has all the tell-tale signs. Using politicians, figures of authority and celebrities to endorse your position is a common tactic. Not saying I don't sympathize with the people of Africa, but look at what NATO has done in Libya. More people murdered there by NATO than the Gaddafi regime killed in a decade, and now the rebels who took over in Libya are torturing people even worse than the previous regime. A man's hand was whipped until it fell off the bone of his arm

That was going to be number 8 on my list!
Yes, they found new reserves in 2009. Imagine that!
2010 we send 100 troops? Gee, what are the odds?

ExposeCHina
- 03/08/2012 at 20:01

When China is buying Uganda's oil and doing business by selling them cheap goods, why USA and west to step up? Why don't China step in and show that they care? USA's and Europe's economy is going through times. More over Elections cost money, as USA going for one soon, which China don't have to worry about any elections, they should step and catch KONY.

and what is the great American Empire gonna do about this? Must not be enough oil in Uganda, so the brave Americans look the other way. No National Interests at stake, no money, no profits to be made in saving innocent children. I believe that Obama would like to throw the full weight of American military might behind the effort to remove Kony, but I predict that the cowardly Republican leadership will resist until more Americans demand they act. Such Republicans are self centered scum, but it is the American way.

%#@^* @*#$!!! I was so pissed off, I had to go back and correct this post multiple times..

Actually, sir, what do the Republicans have to do with this? This is an Obama campaign ad and a self proclaimed "Experiment". Watch the doc again where that is mentioned and "you have to watch closely".
As mentioned earlier, Obama has already sent troops there, without Congressional approval (as well as Libya) in October 2011.
Yea, them pesky 'publicans!!

And I didn't have to edit because I am not angry, just skeptical and trying to find the truth.

NOTE: It may behoove anyone that watches this doc to do some research before you start typing your CC number for you Numbered bracelets!!!

CapnCanard
- 03/09/2012 at 05:38

Well, I am sure glad that it wasn't a Republican Oil field that was robbed, killed, raped, beaten and forced to join an Army. Thanks for setting me straight. Of course I realize that blaming Republicans goes against the hive mind or even an illusory position of your very narrow skepticism but we can't all hide under those traditional white sheets of conservative cowardice.

Since this post does come later and I've learn a little more about Kony, I am much more open to listening to the film's haters. The Film does have the air of Christian love and FYI I am not a Christian just a godless atheist. But I've heard snippets about child soldiers and it looks to have some validity... Please keep in mind those were still CHILDREN being killed or used and then tossed aside like garbage. I will not back down from hating killers of children. It is a my weakness. And sincere apologies to all Republicans so offended. Sorry tomdham, I just can't be as good and strong as you. And I will not use words like $l#t, wh*re, pr@st!t*te, nor will I accuse college girls of having gratuitous procreative relations, sorry. I wonder who ramped up the hate here? Oh well, sometimes a weakness can be a blessing.

Guest
- 03/08/2012 at 18:31

The situation is horrible, and to think that US politicians would use this to their advantage is not surprising. I don't know what to think of it all.
az

What a simple way to get people on your side & perhaps salvage some of your mistakes & misgivings in the past. The way to get millions of people & this & several nations supporting you, yes you, U.S.A. You have the strength, so for once use it for the good of your fellow man with no ulterior motive. Take this psychotic bast#rd out before he destroys more lives.

What a simple easy way for your hated (By some people) country to regain so much lost ground. It's not about oil, strategic military posts, or financial gain. It's about humanity & the basic response to the bully on the block. Take him out! Simple, done, & lives saved & U.S.A. looks good again to so many nations. Cheers & Peace all!

@Zatarra
I have read many of your comments over the past year or so & I have to say: I am very disappointed with your comments on this topic/doc.
I trust you are genuinely a decent person but got caught up with some unthinking emotion with regards to this film. Please take a moment to think about your earlier comments. Perhaps they were meant in jest or you just got caught up in the emotion of this film. I know you are better than this.
Time to breathe & re-evaluate what perhaps you didn't mean to say.
Cheers, love,& peace to you & all.

I flagged your post as well, what made you think this was a platform for exposing your own simple minded prejudices? There is less genetic difference between you and those you consider "monkeys" than certain individuals considered to be of your same race. Here is what the current science has to say about the concept of different races of people-

"By the 1970s, it had become clear that (1) most human differences were cultural; (2) what was not cultural was principally polymorphic – that is to say, found in diverse groups of people at different frequencies; (3) what was not cultural or polymorphic was principally clinal – that is to say, gradually variable over geography; and (4) what was left – the component of human diversity that was not cultural, polymorphic, or clinal – was very small.

A consensus consequently developed among anthropologists and geneticists that race as the previous generation had known it – as largely discrete, geographically distinct, gene pools – did not exist."- Wikipedia

If, like myself, you had had the pleasure of sharing your life with someone of another race, black if you must know, you would already know this. I lived with my wife for nine years and loved her every minute of that time. We shared everything from intimacy to financial concerns, which she was much better at than myself. We laughed together, worked together, played together, and like everyone else fought one another at times. I watched her be turned down for loans, jobs, housing, and be generally mistreated the whole time we were together based only on her race. Yet she carried her self with such grace and poise that she never once lashed out in frustration or blamed her failures on the simple minded prejudice society we lived in. I never had the pleasure of having children with her but, I would give anything to change that fact now. I lost her to cancer in spring of 2004, and yes she retained her strength of character, her dignity, and her grace even up until the bitter end. She showed me that no matter how different we may appear, and trust me I am about as white as they come, we all feel pain, we all love and are loved, we all need, we all want, we are all the same. One thing i noticed was that when I entered that cancer ward at the hospital all distinctions of race, religion, or nationaity was left outside. You entered a world were everyone was in the same boat, facing death, and all the social constructs like race or nationality seemed silly and pointless. I only hope it doesn't take facing death for the rest of us to wake up.

Hey Waldo, a simple like was not enough, very beautifully said and so full of love, you couldn't be more right :)

dewflirt
- 03/08/2012 at 10:19

Daughter came in from school and wanted to know if I'd seen the Kony thing yet, Facebook is alight with it and everyone's talking. I'm not supposed to know but I heard they are going stickering today, they are drawing their own - Kony 2012. To be honest the obvious tugging at heart strings style of the film rankled and then I felt a bit guilty. Maybe I missed the point, maybe it is aimed at facebookers and tweens and packaged for them. It worked.
Loved the message, don't need it served Disney style. Now I feel wicked, like I've just kicked an eager puppy :/

I don't think that people are getting the point of this, people are posting it on facebook and all over the internet because it is the greatest communications source we have! People have to know about an issue before they act on it. I don't see the problem in telling as much people as you can about it. The youth in my city (and many across the world) have already started organizing events at their schools and going out on april 20th to help spread the word, and hey if there's any better way that we can help I can promise you that we are interested. (at my school we wear uniforms and in a single day that we are allowed to dress down we can raise around 2000$ (a toonie per student)). If there's any other organization that would benefit the people who have suffered due to Kony, please let me know.

For a Second there i bought in to the Sheep en masse..so jumped to the main site to buy me a wrist band ...i looked for one on the Ugandan kid (Jocob) tagged on it ,but DUH then it dawned on me.There is NONE..He's just a front page to this whole mess. Good-luck hunting for this guy whom...after reading some in-depth is partly involved with the current (Ugandan) president..(just my view)

@mariahhh
I must say there are thousandssss of problems people get involved in, some are abroad, some are local, some are related to school, some are in their own families and some just work on themself and that require all their juice.

This group is trying to reach out as many people as possible of all ages and especially the younger generation who should at last have a voice in this horrible situation. Where are they going to do that?...facebook! Because FB has the potential of spreading the cause within days (and it has)! If it catches as they hope, you will see banners and posters in shopping malls, in the street where most people eventually end up, in schools and beyond.

I see that you went abroad doing humanitarian work, it allowed you to be aware of this problem but keep in mind if you stayed home with your peers, you possibly would have never heard of this, and facebook could be how you learned about it or even better, here on TDF.
Keep it up, and don't concentrate on the messenger, concentrate on the message.
az

May i ask what is in store for May 20th? Who do you call btch and monkeys?
You are being very arrogant. I think everyone is entitled to have an opinion and a rebuttal, see harry nutzack, it can remain civilized.
I admit i flagged your last post.
az

hold on, what about the 500,000 civilians killed in iraq or the homeless on the streets of america, typical college know it all new age hippie jason has completely contradicted himself, this guy is a hypocrite!! surely, like he said himself you should worry about things closer to home, good ole america home of the brave land of the slave!

Nothing, and I mean nothing, happening in America even begins to compare with this. Over thirty thousand children abducted, some forced to shoot their own parents, others having to watch thier own brothers and sisters raped and killed in front of them. Come on man, these people would kill to be one of our homeless. Besides our homeless may have fallen on bad luck but, they were not borned into a life of certain starvation, gorrila warfare, and desease. And as far as the over six hundred thousand civilians killed in Iraq- 1st of all they are already dead, kind of hard to help them now. 2nd People only found out this number a few days ago when wikileaks released the latest batch of classified goodies, give them time to react. 3rd those resposible for the actions against Iraq are no longer in power, no longer commanding troops. While I think they should be prosecuted for war crimes I don't think they demand the kind of immediate action this guy warrants.

New communication tools like Facebook and Twitter helped citizens of countries like Egypt and Libya to topple unwanted regimes. They helped greatly with uprisings in Bahrain, Syria and more. These tools for communication have united like minded people in poorer nations like Indonesia to protest against the highest levels of corruption. In this case Facebook has united thousands in the United States to lobby washington for help yielding real results and getting men on the ground to help find Kony. It is the power of the people using a united voice that powers democracy when democracy is used correctly and affectively.

It is negative thinking and refusal to admit the power of the peoples voices that hold back entire populations of people. Your negative approach does less to help than those who are issuing their support through Facebook and other online communities. In recent days KONY 2012 has flooded Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more. This word is not just spreading it is BLAZING across the internet. If you were an oppressed child of a poor family in Libya when the word of rebellion began to spread via Facebook and you just dismissed it just think about what opportunity you might have missed. If you discouraged just one other individual from taking part you silence that voice and another person becomes invisible.

I believe that at our foundation most humans are good and DO care. In the past it has been difficult to hear about other peoples plight let alone voice an opinion that others can hear. New communications is beginning to remove that barrier. If we chose your negative approach then we will see these tools taken away on piece at a time. Apathy will reign. We should embrace these tools like those in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Syria. You should be encouraged by the spread of the Kony campaign and the willingness of others to lend their voice to a cause that is good. Yes actions speak louder than words, and granted a lot of those who pledge their name to this cause will just stop there, but as we have seen in other nations the movement will not just stop. Often times the movement takes on a life of its own and real change becomes inevitable. I for one am glad and proud to see my fellow human beings push agendas at a grass roots level, overthrow dictators, rebel against corruption, and help those in need. This is how that begins. These tools give us, you, me power. Real power and we have already seen the results.

mariahhhh
- 03/08/2012 at 01:06

Yer right, Im not saying using Facebook is wrong, i just find it aggravating that it took somethin like Facebooks trending topic to get people involved. all Im trying to say is that you should believe in this with yer heart not because all of your friends are liking a page or joining a page on Facebook. this is not a trend, its real life

wald0
- 03/08/2012 at 11:15

Look, I hate facebook and all social networking sites- they are generally boring and over saturated with bubblegum pop culture b.s. That said the reason they used facebook was because that is where the vast majority of young people spend their time, for good or bad. Because it is readily available and already popular all over the globe, and because it is free to post or to view what has been posted. They are trying to reach people and get this guys name and face out there, so if that is accomplished for shallow reasons so be it. Who cares why, where, or when they took notice- the important thing is that they did. Like the man in the documentary said, first stop Konny then we can adress more long term concerns.

Death is not a lesson learned, he should be imprisoned and given the rest of his life to think about what he has done and let guilt take its toll

dewflirt
- 03/08/2012 at 01:31

A man that does this is not a man that will ever be sorry.

jafelop
- 03/08/2012 at 02:37

Mariahhhh.....you are so right! Death its like gift, he must be in jail for the rest of his violent life, and pay all the bad things that he has made.

harry nutzack
- 03/07/2012 at 21:14

very compelling little piece of film craft. however, it also smacks of propaganda. no mention of the other 15 or so african warlords that share spaces on that list with kony(ALL of whom have commited crimes at least as horrific as his). no mention of the actual corporate vested interests popping up in africa that are actually fuelling the interest in congress and the senate. no mention that the spanish judge who was pushing these charges to the world court was recently indicted and expelled from the bench for investigatory misconduct. i also couldnt help but notice that, aside from haircuts, how military the bearing and build of many of the american participants in this vid were. the recently added vids on TDF "cyberwar", and the assange interview related to "social media" immediately sprang to mind as i viewed this. when examined with the eye of a cynical old fart, keeping in mind recent events in world politics related to africa, i have an incredibly hard time NOT seeing this as dovetailing very nicely into whatever agenda we are promoting on the "dark continent". the concept sounds too good to object to (ridding the planet of a "face of evil"), but the production was just a little too "slick", the supporters a little too "squeaky clean and wholesome", and, most telling of all, it lacked the ONE emotion that should have been evident throughout, anger. there was none displayed, not even by the "escaped victims". beware those who claim to be motivated "for the children", as they usually tend to exploiting them just as much (if in a different manner) as mr kony does

What a complete **** you are, maybe you couldnt see the "anger" in the "escaped victims" faces because they were so bloody delighted to have escaped, you m*ron!!!

harry nutzack
- 03/08/2012 at 03:22

funny, your anger at just reading a comment on a short vid is VERY evident. yet somehow i doubt you lost parents, sibs or a childhood over the issue. you illustrate my point perfectly. now, i can see the producers sanitizing the vid so potential contributors arent put off by seething rage, but even the ugandan politicians show none. it reminds me just a bit too much of the kuwaiti royal niece giving testimony(false) to congress about the iraqi's dumping the newborns out of incubators... tears,quivering lip, but NO anger at all. it's a hallmark of "dramatized" testimony. a propaganda job is a propaganda job, no matter how "just" the final goal is. i dont like american military "advisors" being deployed ANYWHERE, as that has historically been a mechanism of insertion, or propping up of puppet regimes. events of the past year in north and central africa would seem to give good reason for suspicion of governmental motive in ANY african involvement. that my country's president is first cousin of the current leader of the neighboring country of kenya gives even more reason for suspicion. kony is, without a doubt, a fiend. but, he is but a solitary fiend in a continent rotten with them, all vying for power by whatever means available to them. are we now going to extend our self imposed role of "world traffic cop" to africa now? fiends will only be, and can only be, run out of africa when the africans themselves rid their continent of them.

wald0
- 03/08/2012 at 11:36

First, I don't generally like to see military advisors sent anywhere either. Like you said , in the past has has been cover for insertion and indicitive of future conflict in that area. That said, it is pretty obvious we do not have interests in this part of the world, as evidenced by the difficulty of getting the U.S. government to act and the fact that they have been there for some time now with no further escalation. Second, the arguement that this can only be stopped by Africans doesn't hold water. Why is this true? Yes, another mad man will pop up to replace Konny however, if we accomplish this you can bet they will know that if they target innocents and the rest of the world finds out they will eventually have to answer for their actions. They will know that the world is watching, that the world can and has taken action. Also the victims will feel empowered, as if they have a voice, and begin to take more responsibility for their own safety. No one says we have to simply arrest this guy and then leave anyway. Why can't we teach these people how to use certan technologies and tactics to protect themselves. When we, or any other peoples, have the ability to help others without sacrificing something of comparative moral value, we have a moral obligation to do so. And insinuating that they sensationalized these reports inorder to gain support is both speculative and callous. You have no proof of this, and only very subjective interpretation to base your opinion on. Maybe these people do not show what you consider the correct level of anger or passion because they have been sytematically desensatized to such things having witnessed them all thier lives.

harry nutzack
- 03/08/2012 at 22:52

waldo, my observations are just that, observations. my conclusions are, of course, clouded by life experience, preconceived notions, and prejudices. if you find my conclusions callous, so be it. i post to share my opinions/conclusions, and not to impress, or win popularity contest points. the dismissal out of hand of "american interests" in uganda is ridiculous. the country has vast mineral wealth, rare earth metals, gold, oil, diamonds, etc. the timing of our involvement, and reasons for delay in direct involvement can be summed up in but a few phrases: "the arab spring"(destabilization and regime insertion in north africa),"profitability" (the cost of extraction and transportation of the various valuable minerals), "family trust" (our american president currently sitting is absolutely unique historically in regards to the area. he is a blood relation of kenyas ruling class, he is "first generation" american as far as paternal bloodline, and his educational background is much more international/multicultural in scope than any previous leader). all 3 listed have much to do with timing. "family trust" is a variable no other of our leaders could exploit, and its importance cant be minimized. idi amin rose to power based on a cry of removing colonial influence in central africa, on empowering the native population, and removing power from european "pretenders". an alliance with, and military ""assistance" from one of our european/caucasian leaders would run counter to such a concept, and metaphorically at least, place "arrows in the quiver" of opposition leaders. obama eliminates that particular variable ("he is one of our own!"). "profitability" is fairly self explanatory, though the "chinese factor" has to be accounted for as well. china has the market fairly well cornered on rare earth metals, and is making huge inroads toward the exploitation of african mineral wealth. a wealthier country than uganda will have to finance the exploitation of their mineral deposits. until very recently, we had little competition for such a scheme. china's "global footprint" has changed that. "the arab spring" has removed leaders from north african nations that exhibited resistance to "globalist agendas"(and non-african "international interventions" on the continent). the recent actions by the military powers of egypt against our NGOs in their country shows at least a perception of american intent to exploit the destabilization of that nations political processes. the nato/un military involvement in ivory coast, libya, etc., as well as our own recent exploits in somalia show our "global policy" is now leaning towards exploitation of the "dark continent". as for anger, it is among our basest emotions. it is very deep rooted. those desensitized by exposure to violence tend to lose anger LAST. empathy, sorrow, nostalgia, and joy tend to leave long before anger. examine the demeanor of survivors of prolonged savagery. they either become clinical (non-emotive, almost robot like when recounting the transgressions experienced or witnessed), or they become primal (showing anger and scorn for those who commited the acts, as well as those who "allowed" them). anger is lost only when emotion is absent (whether through deliberate supression, or onset of "clinical sociopathy"). whether the victim is a deathcamp survivor, a soldier who has survived a horrific campaign, a partisan who suffered a similar campaign, a torture victim, or a survivor of sectarian/inter-tribal violence, they either show anger, or are non-emotive. as i previously posted, the producers could well have "sanitized" such overt examples from the vid, but even covert examples are lacking (no "angry eyes" as but a single example). my contention that "only africans can stop fiends from attaining power in africa" is borne out by history. NO outside intervention besides WW2 has ever eliminated such players from the political spectrum, and in that case it took a protracted war that destroyed the axis completely, and was followed up by a prolonged "occupation and re-education", yet within a few short decades the spectre returned ("auslander raus" in germany, and historical revisionism in japan). italy eliminated fascism because the italians lost their stomach for it, because they themselves removed "il duce" from power, and this world. contrast that with the former yugoslavia, where the ethnic croats maintained power post-WW2 through the civil war's origins. as soon as the power base toppled, the "old scores" were settled, the vendettas rooted in both inter-ethnic, and WW2 alliances boiled over in very short order. nationalist, tribalist, and personal grudges can NEVER be eliminated by 3rd party intervention. they only disappear when the grudge holders "bury the hatchet", which usually happens only when all parties tire of the bloodbath. granted, in the case of africa, many of these "grudges" relate to previous colonial exploitation, and post-colonial alliances, but the only true impetus for peace can come from the populace. a hutu that exhibits bloodlust towards tutsis may very well lay up his machete while military forces monitor his area, but as soon as they leave, they cease being a deterant. intervention on any "side" of the conflict only increases level of resentment.(of course, the previous example can easily be reversed, or transposed to any of a myriad of ethnic/tribal conflicts worldwide). the trappings of propaganda are evident in the vid, from the "save the children" sally struthers infomercial format, to the extreme parallel of their posters to those of the obama campaign of 08, to their none too subtle grouping of kony with completely unrelated historical "monster figures". too many flags for my cynical gaze to fall upon without sounding alarms. could my conclusions be entirely wrong? of course. could they be entirely right? i think so. how the drama plays out will be the only true determinant.

MrIreland
- 03/11/2012 at 14:50

Ahh but its ok for "your country" to invade other countries where there is a profit to be made, get a grip, are you one of the brainwashed?

WiseGapist
- 03/09/2012 at 22:50

If you see this film as something other than propaganda, YOU are the m*ron ^^

Thanks for posting this Vlatko. I literally came to TDF to suggest that you post it. It is a nice counterpoint to some posters here who find it impossible to believe that people of religious faith are doing anything other than ruining the world. You will not hear a word about Jesus or the bible in this short film, but it just so happens the people behind the movement are motivated by their deep faith. Just food for thought.

Michael M., and I believe it is achievable if we remove the ultimate corrupting influence, a carcinogen of economies: money. There are other ways to facilitate trade and others ways to define and or measure wealth.